Book ~ "Against My Will" (2012) Benjamin Berkley

From Goodreads ~ Rose is a young girl and has just been liberated from a Nazi death camp. As she is convalescing in the hospital, a nurse hands her a journal and suggests that she records her experience before she forgets. Rose says that she will "never forget." 

Seventy years later, her granddaughter Danielle discovers the journal entries. Danielle is struggling in an abusive relationship. And the two lives intersect. This is the story of survival, self- discovery, justice, and ultimately about love.

There are two stories in this book.  Rose is a Jew and her family had been taken to a concentration camp during World War II.  She is eventually saved but never sees her family again.  To help her heal, a nurse suggest she record her experiences, which includes being raped, in a journal.

The second story happens almost than seventy years later with her granddaughter, Danielle.  Danielle is hitting thirty, still living home with her father and has just passed the bar exam.  Her father arranges for a matchmaker to introduce her to Jacob.  Wanting to please her father, she quickly marries Jacob who turns out to be an A-hole.  He's cold, controlling verbally abusive and repeatedly rapes Danielle since he feels she is his wife and his property and he wants a family. With the help of Nana Rose, Danielle escapes and makes a new life for herself.

Despite the subject matter, I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the writing style and found it was well-paced.

I felt like smacking Danielle for giving in to the pressure of marrying Jacob even though she knew she didn't want to.  But she hoped things would have gotten better but they never did.  Good for her for eventually getting out!  Despite all that she'd been through, Nana Rose is cute and obviously loves her family.  I liked her theory of giving things away while the hands are warm.

This is a sad but happy book and one that I would recommend.